A campaign to make California the first state to require recycling of old computer monitors and televisions is beginning to win the tentative backing of the nation's biggest electronics manufacturers, raising the likelihood that it will result in a new state law this year.
Gov. Gray Davis vetoed similar legislation last year amid widespread opposition from computer makers and television manufacturers who said the industry was already developing programs to collect and clean up the mountains of unwanted electronic equipment piling up all over the globe.
But many of those same companies, including Hewlett-Packard, Panasonic and IBM, now say they are willing to support a state law, conceding that the industry effort to establish a national standard is years away and that government may need to play a leading role.
Meanwhile, the California Environmental Protection Agency recently released a sweeping proposal of its own to tackle the "e-waste" problem, leading environmentalists and industry representatives alike to conclude that the Davis administration is serious about supporting legislation this time around. The state's approach could serve as a model for the entire country.
"There seems to be a growing sense among the people in industry that something is going to happen on this issue, and they want it to be something they can live with," said Cal/EPA Secretary Winston H. Hickox.
With many consumers replacing televisions, computers and telephones every couple of years to keep up with the latest technologies, electronic detritus has become a common byproduct of the information age. More than 4.3 million tons of consumer electronics and appliances were discarded in 1999 alone, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Much of it contains potentially hazardous toxic materials and needs to be recycled or disposed of safely, say environmentalists and government officials. But the sheer magnitude of the problem has taken cities and states by surprise, and the electronics industry has only recently begun to launch programs to collect old products.
Californians have an estimated 6 million old computer monitors and TVs gathering dust in their homes, according to a report by the state's waste board. The state has banned the monitors and televisions from municipal dumps, requiring that they be treated as hazardous waste, because most contain 4 to 6 pounds of lead apiece.
